Dresden 2011 – scientific programme
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HL: Fachverband Halbleiterphysik
HL 79: Photovoltaics: Mainly Silicon
HL 79.2: Talk
Thursday, March 17, 2011, 14:45–15:00, FOE Anorg
Potential of silicon nanoparticles for photovoltaic applications — •Martin Meseth1, Pawel Ziolkowski2, Nils Petermann3, Gabi Schierning1, Niels Benson1, Hartmut Wiggers3, and Roland Schmechel1 — 1University of Duisburg-Essen, Nanostrukturtechnik, 47057-Duisburg — 2DLR (German Aerospace Center), Institute of Materials Research, 51147-Köln — 3University of Duisburg-Essen, Institut für Verbrennung und Gasdynamik, 47057-Duisburg
To reduce costs per watt of commercial photovoltaics (PVs) silicon nanoparticles are considered as an interesting alternative to conventional PV thin films. To proof the principle concept a pn-junction is created by spark plasma sintering of highly p- and n-doped (≈ 1020 cm−3) Si nanoparticles with diameters in the range of 10nm to 50nm. While SEM-investigations of these sintered samples show still a nanocrystalline structure, density measurements result in a high compaction value of up to 95% of crystalline Si. The structural formation of a pn-junction is proven using microscopic Seebeck-coefficient- and EDX-measurements, each showing a clear separation of the respectively doped materials and a sharp interface in between. Furthermore electrical DC-characterization is done showing a clearly rectifying behaviour. This leads to the conclusion that this pn-junction behaves also electrically as a diode. Further, a small photovoltaic effect under illumination with a 1000W-tungsten lamp indicates the presence of a built-in field between the p- and n-region.